Explore Bordeaux

Bordeaux Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Andrew, is the seat of the Archbishop of Bordeaux. Consecrated in 1096, it was rebuilt in Gothic style from the 13th to the 16th century; Eleanor of Aquitaine married the future Louis VII here in 1137. Its bell tower, the Tour Pey-Berland, stands apart from the church, and its 13th-century Royal Portal keeps its original sculpture.

The Grosse Cloche is a 15th-century gate and belfry of Bordeaux's medieval walls, built over the 13th-century Porte Saint-Éloi on the pilgrims' road to Santiago de Compostela. Two round towers 40 metres high frame the bell chamber, whose bell, cast in 1775, weighs 7,800 kilograms. It served as the belfry of the old town hall and appears on the city's coat of arms.

The Place de la Bourse is an 18th-century royal square on the Garonne quays, designed by Jacques Gabriel and completed by his son Ange-Jacques Gabriel between 1730 and 1775. The former stock exchange and the Hôtel des Fermes frame the Three Graces fountain of 1869, and across the quay the Miroir d'eau, a granite slab under two centimetres of water, reflects the facades.

The Place des Quinconces is a 12-hectare square laid out in the early 19th century on the site of the demolished Château Trompette, named after the quincunx pattern of its trees. At one end stands the Monument aux Girondins (1894–1902), a 54-metre column with bronze fountains; at the other, two rostral columns of 1829 face the Garonne.

The Basilica of St. Michael is a Flamboyant Gothic church in Bordeaux's Saint-Michel quarter, built from the 14th to the 16th century and made a minor basilica in 1903. Its detached bell tower, the Flèche Saint-Michel, rises 114 metres and was built between 1472 and 1492. The church is part of the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela.

The Jardin public is a 10.8-hectare park in central Bordeaux, created in 1746–1756 under the intendant Tourny as a formal French garden designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel. It was remodelled in 1856–1858 as an English landscape garden with lawns, winding paths and a pond with two islands, and the city's botanical garden has occupied part of it since 1858.

The Pont de pierre was the first bridge across the Garonne at Bordeaux, begun under Napoleon in 1810 and completed in 1822 under Louis XVIII to plans by the engineers Claude Deschamps and Jean-Baptiste Billaudel. Built of stone and brick, it is 487 metres long with 17 arches and links the city centre with the La Bastide district on the right bank.